Spheroidal refractory material and method of making



Feb. 9, 1960 J. c. McMuLLl-:N

SPHEROIDAL REFRACTORY MATERIAL AND METHOD OF' MAKING Filed May 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheetl 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN C. Mc MULLEN A TTORNE Y Feb 9, v1960 J. c. MCMULLEN 2,924,533

v sPHERoIDAL REFRACTORY MATERIAL AND METHOD oF MAKING Filed May 28, 1956 v 2 Sheeus-Shee1l 2 EMB CRUSHING STRENGTH VS COMPOSITION ON IO|2 GRIT SIZE ZIRCONIA-SILICA PELLETS.

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YPERCENT zro2 INVENToR. JOHN! c. Mc MuLLE/v United States vPatent O sPHERomAL REFRAcToRY MATERIAL AND METHOD OF MAKING Application May 2s, i956, serial No. 587,162 ys claims. (ci. s-s1) This invention relates to a refractory product in ythe formof small, fused spheroidal particles or pellets characterized by an unusually high mechanical strength and a substantially solid or non-porous structure. More speciiically, `thespheroidal particles of the present kinvention are `composed of nely crystalline zirconia, with or without alumina or mullite crystals, embedded in -a highly siliceous glassy matrix. The product is adapted vfor use, interalia, as blasting mediaor as an heat exchange material. Spherical pellets are desired in many` blasting operations Lbecause of the .peen'ingv effect they produce in contrast to the pitting action of sharp, irregular granular material.

Heretofore prior to the present invention, iron shot have been used as a blasting media but'h'ave been unsatisfactory due to the development of rust spots on the surface of the objectbeing blasted. Consequently, rock `Wool pellets which 'are `a byproduct in the manufacture of rock wool `have been used as a blasting media with satisfactory results although such pellets are relatively weak and have an inordinately short life as a blasting material. Fused `mullite pellets have also been used for the same purpose but are similarly subject to early 'failure because of breakdown under ordinary conditions of use.

yIt is an object of the present invention to provide an im proved refractory pellet material of high mechanical strength suitable for use vas a blasting media.

-It .is a further object to provide arefractory pellet material suitable for use -:as a heat'exchange material.

The present invention l*provides* an inorganic nonmetallic refractory material `in Athe form of small, fused spheroidal particles or pellets of substantially solid structure throughout, which are of unusually high mechanical strength. The spheroidal pellets of the present invention are obtained by fusing `the raw materials from which `it is desired to make the spheroidal particles, using preferably a furnace of the type Wellknown in the manufacture of .fused alumina. The material is melted in such a furnace .and the .molten material caused to owV Vfrom the furnace inathin stream. This -eluent stream ofmolten material ilowspast one or more high pressure air or other gaseous jets `directed at :approximately right angles to the stream. The air jet breaks the moltenstream `into droplets and carries these droplets through the air for several feet before dropping them. The Idroplets `solidify `before ,strik- `ing and have `a roughly spherical or spheroidal shape. IIn fact, contrary to all previous experiences, lwhen the material `as blown is cooledsuddenly by water quenching the product tends to be `stronger and tougher `than when the material is air-cooled. i p

The product of the present invention comprises small, fused spheroidal particles consistingxessentially of crystal- .line zirconia, with or without crystallinemullite, embedded lin `a siliceous `glassy matrix. Most satisfactory'results withhrespect to highkmechanical strength are obtained when the crystalline zirconia `content of the particles .ranges fromabout 45% to 75% by weight of the particle. When alumina is present combined with silica in the form ofmullite crystals, the aluminashould preferably amount to no more than about 22% by weight of the pellet, by

oxide analysis. When the silica content of the material exceeds and especialy when it is over 60% by weight, the material 'tends to form fibers instead of pellets when it is subjected in molten form to the air or other gaseous blast. v

lFigure l of the drawing is a triaxial diagram showing the range of compositions of zirconia, alumina and silica from which spheroidal particles of improved high mechanical strength can be made;

AFigure 2 of the drawing is a highly enlarged, schematic sectional view, through a fused spheroidal particle made according to `the present invention; and

IFigure 3 is a graph showing the mechanical strength of zirconia-silica pellets of several diierent proportions of zirconia and silica.

Refractory pellets of substantially solid, generally spheroidal shape of unusually high mechanical strength and extremely resistant to breakdown in air blasting operations have been made as follows:

A raw batch consisting of 75 parts zircon and 25 parts of silica sand is fused in an electrical pot furnace of the type conventionally used for the making of fused alumina abrasive material. The Zircon analyzes about 67% zirconia and 33% silica'and the silica sand 'is over 99% silica so that the raw batch amounts to roughly equal parts by weight of zirconia and silica by oxide analysis. The molten material is released from the furnace in the formA of a small stream of molten material which is directed infront of one or more high pressure air or gaseous jets directed at approximately right angles to the stream of material. The air jet breaks the molten stream into droplets and carries these droplets through the air for sev- `eral feet to suddenly cool them before they are dropped. The droplets solidify before striking and have a roughly spheroidal shape. The individual particle size of the spheroidal material depends largely upon the air pressure used for dissipating the stream of molten material. Table l below shows the effect of various nozzle pressures upon the particle size distribution of the resulting product. Higher nozzle air or gas pressures result in an increase in the percentage of iiner size spheroidal particles.

TABLE I Eyfect of nozzle pressure on particle size distribution V Air Pressure in Pounds Per Square Inch Particle Size '(U.S. Standard Sieve) of spheroidal pellets 10 p.s.i. 20 p.s.l 40 p.s.i. 55 p.s.l.

, t Percent Percent Percent Percent +8 mesh 5. 2 4. 7 2.9 1. 5 8+20 mesl1 41. 2 30. 3 19; 9 v18. 4 43. 7 5l. 1 55.8 51. 8 8.1 l0. 7 13.3 16. 4 '1. 8 3. 2 8.1 ll. 9

Referring furtherto Figure 2 of the drawing, petrographic examination of the resulting pelleted `product discloses that the pellets consist essentially of tine crystals 4 of zirconia having a maximum length of around 2 microus embedded in a glassy or vitreous siliceous matrix 5. The resulting pellets were tested for refractoriness, mechanical or crushing strength, and resistance to breakdown in blasting operations in direct comparison with mullite and two different types of rock wool pellets and were found to be remarkably superior in both mechanical or crushing strength and resistance to breakdown to either the mullite or rock wool pellets heretofore used as a'blasting media.

The pellets were tested for refractoriness as follows: small porcelain crucibles, filled `withgraded pellets 28 to 38 particle size (U.S. standard sieve), were heated to 1400 C. andh'eld for in an electrically heated kiln. The pellets were cousidered to have satisfactorily passed the test for refracoriness if they did not sinter together. With the exception of therock wool pellets, which melted, noneof the other compositions sintered togetherand were considered to be 'acceptable from the standpoint of refractoriness.

The mechanical strength of the pellets was obtained S hours at that temperature ysuffered only a l10.-877% `loss in weight due to breakdown duringrtheair blasting whereas by comparison the by determining the crushing strength using two diierent sizes of pellets with results as shown in Table II below. The pellets were classified by passing over a Wilfley table so that-only perfect spheres would be used for the test. Twenty-five pellets of each material were crushed and the results averaged for each determination. In addi- -tion to determining the strength of the zirconia-silica pellets made as described 4above from 75y parts of Zircon 'and 25 parts of silica sand, crushing strengths were obtained'for mullite `pellets and two types of rock wool pellets for purposes of comparison. served thatt'he zirconia-silica pellets were from 4 to 6.tirnesvstronger than the mullite or rock wool pellets.

TABLE II Pounds Required to Crush (Average (or 25 Pellets) -12 Grit Size Pellet Composition 32-36 Grit size (U.S. Standard Sieve) Rock Wool No: 2

It should be obv fused mullite particles suifered a loss of 83.6% by weight due to fracture and breakdown of the material and the rock wool pellets underwent a 97.2 to 98.8% loss due to breakdown.

It has beenfurther found that it is essentialthat the spheroidal particlesbe suddenly cooled in order to obtain the optimum strength. 'While cooling of the particles uponv formation can be accomplished by air blasting of the 'molten material followed by sudden air cooling, the strength of the pellets can be increased substantially by sudden cooling of the' pellets by water quenching immediately upon the formation of the'molten material into solidified droplets.

The proportions of zirconia and silica in the spheroidal particles can be varied considerably from the roughly 50-50 proportions set forth in the example above with spheroidal material of'satisfactory properties being obtained For example, Table IV below sets forth several additional examplesof zirconia-silica compositions havingdifferent proportions of vzirconia and silica content with or without alumina together with the crushing strength andresistance to breakdown under airblasting being shown foreach material. Figure 3 presents in graph form the Acrushing strength data on 10 to l2 particle' size material for Examples 1 through 6 of Table IV.

Rock Wool Rock Wool No. 1 No. 2

i Percent Percent S10@ 37. 94 37.55 AlzOa 10.50 11.60 CaO 41.80 35, 38 MgO 7. 84 4.36 F6303 1. 25 9. 03 T102- 0.53 0.36 NazO 0. 91 1.22

` The pellets were also tested for resistance to breakdown by air blasting as follows. A 25 gram sample vof 'each pelleted material consisting of tabled spheroidal particles having a particle size of 28/ 38 U.S. standard sieve were blasted at pounds air pressure against a hardened lsteel plate having a Rockwell hardness of 62. After blasting, the pellets were collected and again passed over a Wiley table to separate the remaining spheroidal particles from the imperfect spheres and dust resulting from fracturing of the original material. The percentage loss was calculated on the weight of the dustand imperfect spheres removed by tabling, Awith the following results: Y i

Q It yis '.tobe observedthat the zirconia silica TABLE IV Composition, parte Blasting Test, Crushing by weight On 28/38 Strength, Example No. particle size. Pounds to l Y Percent Loss crush 10/12 ZrOa S10: A110; in Weight particle size Examples 7 and 8 of Table `IV above are representative of a fused spheroidal materialv made according to the present invention in which substantial amounts of alumina are present in the material. Examples 7 and 8 were made from fusions of zircon and kyanite and it is to bepobserved that despite the presence of substantial amounts ofalumina combined with silica in the form of mullite crystals in the pelleted material the pellets are of acceptable high strength and are resistant to breakdown under air blasting conditions. In fact, it lwould 'appear that ExampleA 7 is exceptionally superior because of its very high crushing strength. However "this composition has the disadvantage that in forming l the pelleted material, the pellets are contaminated with a substantial' amount of unsatisfactory fibrous material 'which is vformed simultaneously with the pellets during the pelleting operation so that the yield of material in pellet form is much lower than is obtained in the case of the other mixes set forth in Table IV and furthermore involves the cost of separating the fibrous material Afrom the pellets. It is also noted that in` the case of Example 6 where the silica content is 60% that the material tends to form fibers simultaneously with the formation -of-pellets so that this'renders these particular mixes somewhat ldisadvantageous from the standpoint of ease ofV manufacture of-'a clean, uncontaminated pellet material in vsubstantial yield. Y

f VFigui-e l shows the area of compositions of alumina and silica, with or without zirconia, from which satisfactory 'refractory spheroidal particles or pellets of acceptably high crushing strength and resistance'to breakdown can be made in high yield with little or no ber formation. The shaded area embracing these composipeuets v softs is denne@ by .lines connecting points A, `13. C and D, wherein the points A, B, C and D represent the following compositions by weight.

Having described the invention it is desired to claim:

1. Fused spheroidal particles consisting essentially of 45 to 75 parts by weight zirconia and 55 to 25 parts by Weight silica.

2. Fused spheroidal particles consisting essentially of approximately equal parts by weight of zirconia and silica.

3. A fused zirconia-based spheroidal particle consisting essentially of from 22%% to 75% by weight of zirconia crystals embedded in a glassy siliceous matrix, said particle being mechanically strong and substantially non-porous in character.

4. A fused spheroidal particle consisting essentially of zirconia, alumina and silica in the proportions by weight embraced by the shaded area defined by lines connecting points A, B, C and D of Figure 1 of the drawing.

` 5. Fused spheroidal particles of 8 mesh size and ner consisting essentially of zirconia, alumina and silica in the proportions by weight of 22.5% to 75% zirconia, 25% to 55% silica and 0 to 22.5 alumina, said particles being individually substantially solid throughout and mechanically strong.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,440,657 Buckman Ian. 2, 1923 1,615,751 Fulcher Jan. 25, 1927 1,894,208 Von Girsewald et al. Jan. 10, 1933 2,271,366 Field Jan. 27, 1942 2,271,369 Fulcher et al. Jan. 27, 1942 2,409,844 Field Oct. 22, 1946 2,633,623 Robinson Apr. 7, 1953 2,676,359 Chisholm Apr. 27, 1954 2,684,912 Dreher July 27, 1954 2,695,242 Woodward Nov. 23, 1954 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patenti Nm 2924I533 February 9, 1960 John Ce McMullen It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4v .line @A for "alumina" read mzirconia line 70, for "zirconia" read m alumina Signed and sealed this 23rd day of October l962 (SEAL) Attest:

'ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

5. FUSED SPHERODIAL PARTICLES OF 8 MESH SIZE AND FINER CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF ZIRCONIA, ALUMINA AND SILICA IN THE PROPORTIONS BY WEIGHT OF 22.5% TO 75% ZIRCONIA, 25% TO 55% SILICA AND 0 TO 22.5% ALUMINA, SAID PARTICLES BEING IDIVIDUALLY SUBSTANTIALLY SOLID THROUGHOUT AND MECHANICALLY STRONG. 